Chávez drops out of Senate race

Feb. 8, 2016 - San Diego, CA, U.S. - California State Assemblyman Rocky Chávez announces at a debate Monday night that he is dropping out of the race for U.S. Senate. Photo by John McCutchen/San Diego Union-Tribune

John R. Mccutchen

Assemblyman says Republicans must unify if they hope to get a shot; will run for re-election

Assemblyman Rocky Chávez dropped out of the U.S. Senate race Monday in an attempt to give a fellow Republican a better chance of ending up on the November ballot and possible victory in a state where Democrats have a commanding lead in voter registration.

“It’s so important that we as Republicans win this seat, because if we do not win it, it will go to a Democrat, conceivably for two or three decades,” Chávez said in the first minutes of a debate on San Diego’s KOGO radio with GOP candidates Tom Del Beccaro and Duf Sundheim.

He also announced that he’s running for re-election in his 76th Assembly District, which includes Carlsbad, Encinitas, Vista and Chávez’s home turf, Oceanside.

“This is a team sport, and I think that everyone has a role to play,” he said in a brief interview, moments after he left the studio while the debate was still unfolding on live radio. Chávez believes his is in the Legislature.

He was leading the GOP candidates in polls — 7 percent to 3 percent each for Sundheim and Del Beccaro in a January Field Poll — but he said he wasn’t hitting fundraising benchmarks.

It remains to be seen how much his exit changes the equation of the Senate race. That same poll showed Democrats Kamala Harris, the state’s attorney general, with 27 points and Rep. Loretta Sanchez with 15 percent.

Those two have been the focus of the campaign to replace retiring Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer. The top two vote-getters in the June primary, regardless of their party, will advance to the November general election. Many believe it could be an all-Democratic affair in the fall.

Any Republican candidate would face an electorate that heavily favors Democrats, who hold a voter registration advantage over Republicans of 43 percent to 28 percent. Democrats hold all eight state constitutional offices, including governor, along with majorities in the Assembly and state Senate. Both U.S. Senators are Democrats.

Chávez’s re-entry into the 76th Assembly District race upends the dynamic in what was shaping up to be one of the more hotly contested local legislative campaigns. Oceanside City Councilman Jerry Kern and Encinitas’ Phil Graham — former Gov. Pete Wilson’s stepson — jumped into the race for what they thought would be an open seat.

It remains to be seen whether they will stay in and challenge incumbent Chávez.

In the hourlong debate, Del Beccaro and Sundheim — both former state GOP chairmen — wasted no time distinguishing themselves from each other, particularly on tax policy.

Del Beccaro, a longtime supporter of a flat tax, said that the country should get rid of its tiered tax system. A flat tax will be simpler, bolster an effort to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service, expand the economy and grow the tax base, he said.

Sundheim said the flat tax will hurt the country. He added that he had spoken with President Ronald Reagan’s advisers and they told him that they didn’t propose a flat tax because it would devastate the middle class. Instead, he favors cutting marginal tax rates, he said.